The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1887-04-09

and Invested himself of all his clothes
which he handed out to the company. bey,
ging them to make sure that they Contained
no particle of the noble metal One by ono
his garments were returned to him: than
the furnace, the box and the bottles, each
after having been subjected to rigid ex.
animation. 1t was obvious that every
thing was fair and square. There was an
almost solemn silence in the room while the
alchemist lahored behind the screen
Every insignificant little sound was lis
tened to with excited interest The crack
ling of flames were heard, and the steady
blowing of the little bellows; then at last
little cautious hammer blows. and before
thirty minutes had elapsed Wachtmeister
stepped forward, holding a large bar of vel
low gold in his hand. A chorus of excited
oaths and EXPLANATIONS greeted the CLEAN
of the precious metal. Hardness seized it
eagerly, scratched it with his nail.
cut it with his knife, and, having
satisfied himself that it was genuine, passed
it around until all had had chance to ex-
anime it. The bar was then sent to an
assayer, with the request that he return his
analysis at the earliest possible moment.
A banquet had been conditionally arranged
for the party in the evening, and as soon as
UuG ASSAY was lOuuu u ue Satisfactory tthe
bar being valued at $l,100), Mr.. Hardness
and his guests repaired to fashionable
hotel, where the great event was appropri-
ately celebrated. The whole future of hu-
manity was revolutionized and all social
problems solved by this discovery. The
conversation and the toasts turned chiefly
upon the necessity of limiting the produc-
ton, so as not to give too severe a shock Y.
the commercial world. u
For three weeks Wachtmeister no la
bored steadily in dingy little laboratory
which he had improvised in an empty back
room in the Hardness block. He delivered
to the millionaire from time to time small
bars of gold which the assay proved TO be
genuine; but he complained greatly at be-
ing obliged to work under such disadvan-
tages, with imperfect light and no facilities
for extended production. He dined almost
daily with Hardness, who, as he came to
know him, was more and more daszled by
his brilliant talk, scientific requirements
and ineXhaustibe fund Of anecdotes
"You be on the lookout DOCTOR he said
to him one evening as they sat slipping their
Chartreuse and smoking high-favored Ha-
vanas; eff you see any thing thatll suit you
for laboratory, you just let me know and
I'll plank down the cash.
The Teuton betrayed no emotion at this
proposal; but about a week later, when
there was tremendous excitement on
change at the revelation of corner in
Hardness favorite stock, he rushed breath
lessly into the latter's office with copy of
the Alta in his hand
"Look heren he cried; ''here is the very
thing we want. For sale-The property of
G. L. Perkins, Esq, at Oakland I've just
been out there, and Solomon Sayles has got
the refusal of it at S42 900. They are about
to close the bargain. Now, if We can offer
S45, 900 cash it's ours. 1t is dirtcheap, but
Perkins has got squeezed on change and
can't raise money in any other way for mar
gins. He has got to have the cash by two
o'clock. Now, if you'll run out there with
me-"
II run out there-are you cracked, man9n
roared the millionaire. "Don't you know
that there's something very much like
panic on change"
''Why, no, l hadn't heard of it. Well,
then, send out some agent of yours with
your check for 1000 or the right to draw
on you for that amount"
1.-THE deuce! l hain't got no time to
bother"
He scratched his head angrily, then drew
check for the required amount and handed
it to Wachtmeister. "You run out am,
settle the thing YOURSELF he said. ''Iknow
the property. 1t is worth the money. |
know, too, that Perkins is in tight place.
You'd better hurry"
"But couldn't you send Lawson along
with me?'
"You just clear out. Do you suppose l
can spare Lawson on day like this!"
"All right You'll hear from me to-mor-
row."
Wachtmeister folded the check, put 1t into
his pocket book, and rushed out as breath
lessly as he had come. 1t was the last time
Mr.. Hardness had the pleasure of gazing
upon his cOuntenance. He learned by chance
the next day that the Oakland property had
not been sold and that no bid had been made
for it by his Teutonic protege. But man
of twenty millions consoles himself easily.
"a smart chap" he said to himself, nod
ding approvingly; 'on the whole it was not
a bad investment. The mere experience was
worth S45, 900, with the fun thrown I'M
".
1t was in the early winter of 1882 that a
visitor was announced to Miss Katchen
Schrader She gave a few decorative
touches to her person before the mirror re-
arranged her hair with critical eye, and
then burst with headlong ardor into the ad-
joining room and flung herself into the arms
of her visitor. She became conscious, how
ever before re0aininp the perDendicular